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Merkel suggested that Europe's relationship with the USA had shifted significantly following last week's North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and G-7 meetings with President Donald Trump that produced disappointing results, saying Saturday that " the times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days". Read More »

Asserting that terrorism is a big threat for the coming generations, India and Germany on Tuesday vowed to take "strong measures" against those who encourage, support and finance terror. In a thinly veiled dig at the Trump administration, Ms Merkel said "protectionist tendencies" were increasing worldwide and this made it necessary to remain open and ensure conditions for negotiations are fair. Read More »

The attack, just days into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, underscores spiraling insecurity in Afghanistan , where the NATO-backed military, beset by soaring casualties and desertions, is struggling to beat back insurgents. "The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented (it) from gaining entry to the Green Zone but the explosion caused civilian casualties in the vicinity", a statement said. Read More »

Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump and Merkel "get along very well. He has a lot of respect for her". The press conference started with Spicer reviewing Trump's just completed nine-day worldwide trip with such superlatives as "incredible" and "historic", but ended with him again defending the administration's allegations about fake, or intentionally erroneous, news. Read More »

Brzezinski's influence spanned several decades. I will miss him", Carter said in part of the statement. Brzezinski served as President Carter's national security advisor from 1977 to 1981 and continued to hold influence in foreign policy issues. Read More »

They wonder why the leader of Germany's most influential global ally seems more willing to criticize their country than nations with questionable human rights records. White House Communications Director Mike Dubke confirmed reports he had resigned, saying in a statement, "It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration". Read More »

Merkel last week had said that reliable ties forged since the end of World War II "are to some extent over". Mrs Merkel regards her speech on Europe becoming more active internationally as a reflection of the reality during the Ukraine conflict and the refugee crisis, according to a senior German government official with knowledge of her thinking. Read More »

The tit-for-tat row has escalated rapidly after Trump criticised major North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord at back-to-back summits last week. "And so all I can say is that we Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands". On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe can no longer count on the U.S. Read More »

Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning: "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days". "It would hamstring future presidents in participating in global climate diplomacy", said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at the UCLA School of Law. Read More »

Japan still regrets the United States withdrawal from a Pacific trade pact but is focused on promoting unity among the 11 remaining countries in order to salvage the agreement, according to Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko. China, putting itself forward as a global free trade champion in light of the U.S. shift, is pushing an agreement to encompass the vast majority of Asian economies. Read More »

Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, D. Meanwhile, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded similar tones as they criticized the ongoing US scrutiny of Russia's attempts to sway the presidential election. Boris Epshteyn said in a statement that the committee had asked him to volunteer information. In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro , Putin reaffirmed his denial of Russian involvement in the hacking of Democratic emails. Read More »

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack , which will add to pressure on his government, already facing mounting discontent over its inability to provide security. The BBC said one of its drivers was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Cairo said the exterior of the Egyptian Embassy building was also damaged. Read More »

Neither the meeting nor the Americans involved were under USA surveillance, officials told the Post . Dubke's hiring helped to ease the burden on White House press secretary Sean Spicer , who also served as communications director before Dubke was hired. Read More »

But she has had to face the accusation she is afraid to do so on a larger stage. May had ruled out any head-to-head debate with other party leaders ahead of the June 8 vote, and aides confirmed her interior minister would attend for the ruling Conservatives as planned. Read More »

But buoyed by rising poll ratings - and the chance to make May look evasive - Corbyn changed his mind. "I think actually it is about getting out and about meeting voters and hearing directly from voters", she said. Jeremy Corbyn has been underestimated many times in his career. "Debates where politicians are squabbling among themselves doesn't do anything for the process of electioneering". Read More »

The Labour leader said the Tories are running a "a stage-managed arms-length campaign". "Refusing to join me in Cambridge tonight would be another sign of Theresa May's weakness, not strength". Tory Home Secretary Amber Rudd will stand in for May at the seven-way debate, which will feature Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon. Read More »

US President Donald Trump is likely to abandon his campaign promises to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as he may have plans to make this move a part of the comprehensive peace agreement between Israel, the Arab states and the Palestinians, an opposition member of the Israeli parliament, Ksenia Svetlova, told Sputnik on Wednesday. Read More »

A television ad ran Wednesday showed CEOs of top US companies backing the pact. Each of the 197 parties to the Paris accord have agreed to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions by varying degrees. If the US stays in the agreement, the company said it would advocate changes including a more rigorous reassessment of emissions goals and an increased emphasis on carbon capture research. Read More »

The US Army stated that the ballistic missile was successfully intercepted and according to witnesses, the test was conducted in California. The success of the test is a watershed moment for the United States military's effort to establish an effective though limited ground-based defence against ICBMs as the North ramps up its threats. Read More »

Relax, it's not quite that serious. " Climate change is not a fairy tale". That goes for New Zealand's involvement in the agreement as well. The decision to strike down the global climate deal comes days after Donald Trump found himself isolated at the G7 summit in Italy. Read More »

Minutes after Trump and his entourage left Washington for Saudi Arabia on May 19, two news stories broke: that the president had described recently fired FBI Director James Comey as a "nut job" during his meeting with Russia's foreign minister and ambassador to the US, and that an unnamed White House official was the target of FBI scrutiny. Read More »

Sri Lankan army trucks carried drinking water and food to those in need. The UN has said it is assisting in relief efforts in response to a government appeal. There were no casualties and Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena telephoned Squadron Leader Bhanuka Delgoda, the pilot of the MI-17, to congratulate him for his bravery. Read More »

Mr Duterte asked in Davao, in a reference to Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern with whom former President Bill Clinton had a sexual entanglement. I do not laugh at my own jokes. He told them that he would take the blame if they raped three women, that he would say he did it instead. He then accused American soldiers of raping women in the Philippines and Japan , without giving details, before returning to Clinton. Read More »

The United States and China also pledged relief. The Korean community and companies in Sri Lanka are joining efforts to assist the Sri Lankan people affected by floods and landslides. To assist Sri Lanka in this hour of grief, the Chinese government on May 28 announced that it would provide emergency humanitarian aid worth 15 million RMB (2.2 million USA dollars), which would include tents, blankets and other relief supplies to be distributed to those affected. Read More »

Dubke had previously made his desire to leave "very clear", and that he had agreed to wait until President Trump's trip to the Middle East and Europe had concluded before officially resigning. While overseas, Mr Trump's long-time lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into Russian interference in the election and his associates' potential involvement. Read More »

He tweeted Wednesday that he has done all he could in his advisory capacity to remain in the accord. Trump himself kept everyone in suspense, saying he was still listening to "a lot of people both ways". to China, and others nations could follow suit". American corporate leaders have also appealed to the businessman-turned-president to stay. Hundreds of high-profile businesses have spoken out in favor of the deal, including Apple, Google and Walmart. Read More »

Merkel had already begun finessing her message on Monday, stressing that she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist", a message she repeated after a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin . "Europeans think they are now being treated worse by Trump than countries like Russian Federation or Saudi Arabia", said Stephan Bierling, an expert on transatlantic relations at the University of Regensburg in Germany. Read More »

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in early March recused himself from the Justice Department's Trump-Russia probe following The Washington Post reporting that he had twice met with Kislyak while a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More »

What's more , over the haul, climate change itself threatens to impose huge costs on the economy. Scientists say that the earth is likely to reach more risky levels of warming even sooner if the USA retreats from its pledge because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. Read More »

New York , May 31, 2017-At least two media workers were killed and nine others were injured in a massive bomb attack in central Kabul , Afghanistan that also partially destroyed the office of a television station, according to media reports . Read More »

Almost 300,000 people have been evacuated from southern coastal areas as a cyclone dubbed Mora hit Bangladesh on Tuesday, authorities here said. He said around 475,669 people took shelter in 11,820 cyclone centres in 14 districts. Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar came to Bangladesh fleeing violence, but now many of their temporary homes have been destroyed. Read More »

Trump is to meet Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who believes the US should stay in so it can keep its place at the worldwide bargaining table. More recently, Defense Secretary James Mattis told CBS News' John Dickerson that he was part of some of the discussions in Brussels when talks of climate change came up. Read More »

The explosion also raised serious questions about the Afghan government's ability to secure the war-battered nation. U.S. Embassy Kabul Special Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Hugo Llorens condemned the attack in a statement and said America's "commitment is unwavering; we stand with the Afghan people and the Government of National Unity..." One embassy guard, an Afghan native, was reportedly killed. Read More »

Voters were faced with a "very clear choice" on June 8, she said, adding: "That choice is about who is going to be prime minister, who is going to lead the United Kingdom in those Brexit negotiations, who has the plan to do that, the determination to get the best deal, who has the strong and stable leadership to do that". Read More »

Bhat, head of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group, was killed in a gunfight with government forces in Tral area, some 40 kilometres south of Srinagar . Both belonged to Rathsuna village of Tral tehsil where they were buried in the village martyrs graveyard as hundreds attended their burial. Police said except for six stone-pelting incidents on Sunday, the valley remained peaceful. Read More »